Cell processor methods and apparatus

ABSTRACT

Methods and apparatus for cell processors are disclosed. A policy module is loaded from a main memory of a cell processor into the local memory of a selected synergistic processing unit (SPU) under control of an SPU policy module manager (SPMM) running on the SPU. The policy module loads a work queue from the main memory into the local memory of the SPU. The policy module interprets and process one or more tasks from the work queue on the SPU. The selected SPU performs the task(s) and after completion or upon a pre-emption, returns control of the SPU to the SPMM.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to commonly-assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/238,087 entitled “SPU TASK MANAGER FOR CELL PROCESSOR” to John P. Bates, Payton R. White, Richard Stenson, Howard Berkey, Attila Vass and Mark Cerny, which is filed the same day as the present application, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.

This application is also related to commonly-assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/238,095 entitled “CELL PROCESSOR TASK AND DATA MANAGEMENT” to Richard B. Stenson and John P. Bates, which is filed the same day as the present application, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.

This application is also related to commonly-assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/238,086 entitled “OPERATING CELL PROCESSORS OVER A NETWORK” to Tatsuya Iwamoto, which is filed the same day as the present application, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.

This application is also related to commonly-assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/238,085 entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PERFORMING MEMORY COPY FUNCTION ON A CELL PROCESSOR” to Antoine Labour John P. Bates and Richard B. Stenson, which is filed the same day as the present application, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention generally relates to parallel processing and more particularly to scheduling across various programming models in cell processors.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A major advance in electronic computation has been the development of systems that can perform multiple operations simultaneously. Such systems are said to perform parallel processing. Recently, cell processors have been developed to implement parallel processing on electronic devices ranging from handheld game devices to main frame computers. A typical Cell processor has a power processor unit (PPU) and up to 8 additional processors referred to as synergistic processing units (SPU). Each SPU is typically a single chip or part of a single chip containing a main processor and a co-processor. All of the SPUs and the PPU can access a main memory, e.g., through a memory flow controller (MFC). The SPUs can perform parallel processing of operations in conjunction with a program running on the main processor. The SPUs have small local memories (typically about 256 kilobytes) that must be managed by software—code and data must be manually transferred to/from the local SPU memories. For high performance, this code and data must be managed from SPU software (PPU software involvement must be minimized). There are many techniques for managing code and data from the SPU. Often, different techniques for managing code and data from the SPU need to operate simultaneously on a cell processor. There are many programming models for SPU-driven task management. Unfortunately, no single task system is right for all applications.

One prior art task management system used for cell processors is known as SPU Threads. A “thread” generally refers to a part of a program that can execute independently of other parts. Operating systems that support multithreading enable programmers to design programs whose threaded parts can execute concurrently. SPU Threads operates by regarding the SPUs in a cell as processors for threads. A context switch may swap out the contents of an SPU's local storage to the main memory and substitute 256 kilobytes of data and/or code into the local storage from the main memory where the substitute data and code are processed by the SPU. A context switch is the computing process of storing and restoring the state of a SPU or PPU (the context) such that multiple processes can share a single resource. Context switches are usually computationally intensive and much of the design of operating systems is to optimize the use of context switches.

Unfortunately, interoperating with SPU Threads is not an option for high-performance applications. Applications based on SPU Threads have large bandwidth requirements and are processed from the PPU. Consequently SPU-threads based applications are not autonomous and tend to be slow. Because SPU Threads are managed from the PPU, SPU context switching (swapping out the current running process on an SPU to another waiting process) takes too long. Avoiding PPU involvement in SPU management can lead to much better performance for certain applications

To overcome these problems a system referred to as SPU Runtime System (SPURS) was developed. In SPURS, the memory of each SPU has loaded into it a kernel that performs scheduling of tasks handled by the SPU. Unfortunately, SPURS, like SPU Threads, uses context switches to swap work in and out of the SPUs. The work is performed on the SPUs rather than the PPU so that unlike in SPU Threads there is autonomy of processing. However, SPURS suffers from the same overhead of context switches as SPU Threads. Thus, although SPURS provides autonomy it is not suitable for many use cases.

SPURS is just one example of an SPU task system. Middleware and applications will require various task systems for various purposes. Currently, SPURS runs as a group of SPU Threads, so that it can interoperate with other SPU Threads. Unfortunately, as stated above, SPU Threads has undesirable overhead, so using it for the interoperation of SPU task systems is not an option for certain high-performance applications.

In cell processing, it is desirable for middleware and applications to share SPUs using various task systems. It is desirable to provide resources to many task classes, e.g., audio, graphics, artificial intelligence (AI) or for physics such as cloth modeling, fluid modeling, or rigid body dynamics. To do this efficiently the programming model needs to manage both code and data. It is a challenge to get SPU middleware to interoperate with no common task system. Unfortunately, SPU Threads and SPURS follow the same programming model and neither model provides enough performance for many use cases. Thus, application developers still have to figure out how to share limited memory space on the SPUs between code and data.

Thus, there is a need in the art, for a cell processor method and apparatus that overcomes the above disadvantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To overcome the above disadvantages, embodiments of the invention are directed to methods and apparatus for cell processors having one or more central processors and one or more synergistic processing units (SPU), each SPU having a processor and a local memory. According to an embodiment of the invention managing code and data on one or more of the SPUs can be implemented by an inventive method. According to this method a policy module is loaded from a main memory into the local memory of a selected SPU under control of an SPU policy module manager (SPMM) running on one or more of the SPUs. The policy module may be configured to load a work queue from the main memory into the local memory of the SPU. Under control of the policy module, one or more tasks are loaded from the main memory into the local memory of the selected SPU. The policy module may be configured to interpret and process one or more tasks from the work queue on the SPU. The selected SPU performs the task(s) and after completing the tasks or upon a pre-emption, returns control of the SPU to the SPMM.

Embodiments of the present invention provide solutions for efficient interoperation of SPU policy modules.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The teachings of the present invention can be readily understood by considering the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a cell processor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2A is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of a cell processor method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2B is a flow diagram illustrating an algorithm for choosing work queues in a cell processor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 3A-3B are schematic diagrams illustrating software architecture for implementing embodiments of the present invention.

FIGS. 3C-3F are memory maps illustrating implementation of SPMM-based implementation of cell processing according to embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a data processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS

Although the following detailed description contains many specific details for the purposes of illustration, anyone of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that many variations and alterations to the following details are within the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the exemplary embodiments of the invention described below are set forth without any loss of generality to, and without imposing limitations upon, the claimed invention.

FIG. 1 is a schematic depiction of a cell processor 100. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the cell processor 100 generally includes a power processor unit (PPU) 102 and several synergistic processing units (SPU) 104. In FIG. 1, a single PPU 102 and eight SPU 104 are shown for the sake of example. Cell processors having two or more PPU and a greater or lesser number of SPU may be used in conjunction with embodiments of the present invention.

The PPU 102 acts as a controller for the SPUs 104, which handle most of the computational workload. The PPU 102 may also be used to run conventional operating systems if it is sufficiently similar to other 64-bit PowerPC processors, and if the SPUs 104 are designed for vectorized floating point code execution. By way of example, the PPU 102 may contain a 32 KiB instruction and data Level 1 cache and a 512 KiB Level 2 cache.

The PPU 102 and SPUs 104 can exchange code and data with each other over an exchange interface bus (EIB) 103. The PPU 102 and SPUS 104 can also exchange code and data stored in a main memory 106, e.g., via the EIB 103 and a memory flow controller (MFC) 108 such as a digital memory access (DMA) unit or the like. The EIB 103 may be a circular bus having two channels in opposite directions. The EIB 103 may also be connected to the Level 2 cache, the MFC 108, and a system interface 105 such as a FlexIO for external communications.

Each SPU 104 includes a local memory 110. Code and data obtained from the main memory 106 can be loaded into the local memory 110 so that the SPU 104 can process tasks. As shown in the inset, a small software manager referred to herein as an SPU Policy Module Manager (SPMM) 112 resides in the local memory 110 of each SPU 104. Preferably, the SPMM 112 takes up only a small fraction of the total memory space available in each local memory 110 (e.g., less than about 1% of each SPU memory). The heart of SPMM 112 is referred to as an “SPMM Kernel”, which typically takes up about 2 KB resident on each SPU. For a 256K local storage, this represents about 0.8% SPU Local Store usage.

The SPMM Kernel provides Priority-based Work Queue scheduling. As used herein, the term “Work-Queue” refers to work defined at some location in a memory, such as, SPU work defined in main memory 106. This is often a queue of task definitions. A Policy Module associated with the work-queue determines how this work is interpreted and executed. As used herein, “Policy Module” refers to a small manager object on an SPU that defines a programming model and task execution scheme. A given Policy Module can manage code and/or data in the remaining SPU memory to execute SPU work. Policy Modules may be transferred from main RAM to SPU local storage to execute as needed by the current Work Queue. Other schemes of transferring a Policy Module from SPU to SPU are also recognized by the present inventors. The SPMM Kernel typically chooses a new Work Queue every time it runs.

The SPMM 112 implements the simplest set of features to enable scheduling of SPU work. Therefore, Policy Modules must manage their own context data. Policy Modules must determine their context data from a pointer to SPU work. A Policy Module image may be preprocessed with state data. For example, initialize some global data in the Policy Module ELF image based on runtime options. During execution of a Policy Module, state data may be changed by the SPU and passed from a Policy Module running in the SPU to main memory. The PPU may also change the state of state data in a Policy Module. The Policy Module is typically stored as an ELF image, which refers to executable linkable file format. After an ELF has been processed and linked to an image that image is ready to execute.

Embodiments of the present invention are able to avoid context switches because the work is loaded under control of the policy module running on the SPU 104. Although context switches are generally not performed by the SPMM Kernel, policy Modules may perform context switches because their implementation of is completely up to developers. However, many task systems will not need their context switched out, because they already manage code/data in the SPU Local Store 110. For example, SPURS will context switch SPURS Tasks to/from Local Store, but the SPURS Kernel does not need its own context to be saved/restored.

By way of example, policy modules and work queues may be associated as follows. As shown in the lower inset in FIG. 1, the main memory 106 may contain a work queue array 114 having a set of work definitions 116. Table I illustrates an example of a data structure for a work definition 116 stored in the work queue array 114.

TABLE I Bytes (13) Work Definition 4 Memory address of Work 4 Memory address of Policy Module Definition 1 Priority 1 Contention (Number of SPUs) 1 Maximum Allowed Contention 1 Minimum Contention 1 State

Table I represents one possible work definition, among others. The particular contents of work definitions data structures may vary from that of Table I. In general, each of the work definitions 116 includes a pointer to a memory address for the corresponding work queue (WQ) 118. The memory address includes SPU work defined in RAM, which may contain both code and data for the work queue 118. Examples of work queues includes Tasksets, and Task Queues. The Work Queue definition 116 may also include a value for the state of the corresponding WQ 118. Work Queue states can be set from either the PPU 102 or SPU 104. Examples of states include (a) SPM_READY-, which means that the WQ 118 contains ready work, (b) SPM_EMPTY-WQ, which means that the WQ 118 contains no ready work and (c) SPM_FREE-WQ, which means that the WQ 118 is no longer in use.

Contention refers to the number of SPU 104 that are working on a given WQ 118. Depending on the type of work, there may be a maximum number of SPUs 104 that can work on a given WQ 118. This number may be stored as part of the work definition 116. Certain types of work require two or more SPUs for efficient processing. In such cases, the output of one SPU may be forwarded to a second SPU for further processing. To address such cases, it is useful to define a minimum contention, i.e., a minimum number of SPUs needed to process the work. This number can also be stored as part of the work definition 116.

Each work queue 118 is associated with a Policy Module. In the case represented by Table I, the association between a work queue and its corresponding policy module is by way of a pointer to the memory address of a policy module definition 120. A Policy Module may be associated with multiple work queues. Table II illustrates an example of a policy module definition.

TABLE II Bytes (12) Policy Module Definition 4 Address of Policy Module SPU code image 4 Size of SPU code image 4 Code image offset of function that takes Work pointer

In Table II, the Code image offset refers to the entry point address for the first function call.

In this example, the policy module definition 120 includes a pointer to a memory address containing the code image 122 of the policy module. It is this code image that is loaded into the local storage 110 by the SPMM 112. The loaded image then runs the SPU 104 as a policy module 124. The policy module controls the loading of work, e.g., context data 126 in the form of code or data into the local storage 110 from the work queue 118 in main memory 106.

FIG. 2A is a flow diagram illustrating a method 200 of processing with the cell processor 100 of FIG. 1. Operation of the cell processor 100 may be understood with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2A. At step 202 the SPMM 112 running on one of the SPUs 104 selects a WQ 118 to process. The SPMM 112 chooses a new Work Queue if (1) the previous work was completed; or (2) the previous work was preempted. The algorithm for choosing a new queue may be, e.g., a simple linear search (e.g., one in which every work definition in the work queue array is searched until a match is found). However, the particular algorithm may vary. During Work Queue acquisition, an atomic mutex may be locked so that max-contention rules are obeyed. However, other synchronization techniques, including lock-free, may also work.

FIG. 2B is a flow diagram illustrating an example of an algorithm 220 for choosing a Work Queue at step 202. The algorithm 220 is run by the SPMM 112. Initially, a parameter CHOICE is set to none at step 222. The parameter CHOICE represents the Work Queue that the SPMM 112 chooses to process. A pointer W is set to point to the first Work Queue definition in the WQ array 114 at step 224. At step 226 the SPMM checks whether the Work Queue definition represents a valid Work Queue. If it is not, the algorithm ends. As an example of an invalid WQ definition consider a case where the Work Queue array 114 has a size, N. If the index of the Work Queue definition is greater or equal to N, it is invalid. The algorithm iterates over all valid Work Queue definitions. If the Work Queue definition is valid, the SPMM 112 checks whether the first Work Queue is ready for processing at step 228. By way of example SPMM 112 may check whether the state attribute of the Work Queue definition is set to “READY”. If the first WQ is not ready, the value of W is set to point to the next WQ definition in the WQ array 114 at step 230 and the algorithm returns to step 226. If at step 232 the WQ is ready the SPMM 112 compares the WQ's contention (i.e., the number of SPUs currently working on it) to its max_contention (i.e., the most SPUs that could work on it). If the WQ's contention is greater than or equal to its max_contention, the value of W is set to point to the next WQ definition in the WQ array 114 at step 230 and the algorithm returns to step 226.

If the WQ's contention is less than its max_contention value the SPMM 112 then checks whether the value of CHOICE is valid at step 234. For example, if the initial value of CHOICE=none, it is invalid. If CHOICE is invalid, the value of CHOICE is set equal to the value of W at step 236 and the work corresponding to the value of W is selected for processing by the SPU 104. The value of W is set to point to the next WQ definition in the WQ array 114 at step 230 and the algorithm returns to step 226.

Referring again to FIG. 2A, once a WQ 118 is selected from among the Work definitions 116 in the WQ array 114 the SPMM 112 loads the corresponding policy module 124 from the main memory 106 into the local storage 110 of the SPU 104 at step 204. As described above, loading a policy module from the main memory 106 may include reading from the work definition 116 in a work queue array 114 a memory address of the policy module code image 122 in the main memory 106. The SPMM 112 implements the simplest set of features to enable scheduling of work on the SPU 104. The SPMM 112 does not assume anything about the contents of the WQ 118. Instead the Policy Module 124 determines WQ contents and usage and manages its own context data.

When a WQ 118 is chosen its contention value is incremented; its policy module code image 122 is transferred to local storage 110 (unless it is already resident); and the policy entry function is called with a pointer to the WQ 118. At step 206, under control of the policy module, the selected WQ is processed (e.g. one or more tasks from a work queue 118 are loaded from the main memory 106 into the local memory 110).

In practice, Work Queue contents will often be either an atomic mutex that protects a shared task queue or lock-free data related to a set of tasks. WQ array access may be serialized using an atomic lock to ensure that WQ contention is balanced and/or ensures that max-contention rules are followed. Lock-free access to work queues 118 is also possible; however, the code becomes more complex. In some cases only 128-byte sections of Work Queue definitions can be examined at a time. In addition it is not clear whether performance of the cell processor 100 would be any different. Performance may be better with few Work Queues, but may be worse with many Work Queues.

At step 208 the SPU performs one or more tasks from the work queue 118. Work Queues can be processed by one or more SPUs 104, simultaneously. As described above, a maximum number of contending SPUs (max contention) can be set for each WQ 118. The Policy Modules 124 returns control of the SPU 104 to the SPMM Kernel 112 at step 210 if either the previous work was completed or previous work was preempted.

The SPMM 112 schedules multiple SPU work-queues 118 based on priorities and readiness. When higher priority work becomes available, the SPMM 112 can assign high priority tasks to available SPUs. Embodiments of the present invention are said to be semi-preemptive in that they can also implement cooperative preemption. Specifically, the Policy Module 124 can periodically check an SPU event channel to determine preemption. If and when preemption occurs, the Policy Module 124 can clean up and return control of the SPU 104 to the SPMM 112. When higher priority work becomes ready, preemption events are sent to lower priority SPUs—Policy Modules return to allow processing of higher priority work. Priority and contention of a given task or work queue may be stored as part of the work definition in the work queue array.

The Policy Modules 124 have one required function: execute(EA work_queue) { . . . }, where EA stands for “effective address”—the main memory address of the WQ, from the chosen WQ definition. The function does not have to be called “execute”, but it must take a single 32-bit parameter. The size of the parameter (e.g., 32-bits) may vary based on the implementation, but the parameter is the address of the chosen Work Queue. The execute function represents the entry point for the Policy Module. This function should process the Work Queue passed to it via the work_queue parameter. The execute function may be configured to return state information which can be passed to main memory in the PPU, depending on the particular configuration of the Policy Module. However the execute function to process a work queue will typically not return a value.

To end processing of a WQ the policy module 124 calls a function referred to herein as spmm_release_work (new state) which decrements the contention value for the WQ 118 and sets the value of the WQ state to new_state (typically SPMM_READY or SPMM_EMPTY depending on whether processing ends due to completion or pre-emption). To return control of the SPU to SPMM 112, the policy module 124 calls a function referred to herein as spmm_exit that resets a stack pointer to top of LS 110, and chooses a new WQ. The policy module 124 may be reused by the next chosen WQ, so policy module's stack size is typically at least 4 KB.

In embodiments of the present invention spmm_release_work is usually called immediately before spmm_exit. There is an important reason why they are not a single function. Often, WQs will allow new work to be added at any time. When new work is added to a WQ, its state must be set to SPM_READY. The Policy Module 124 must prevent undesirable race conditions (flaws in a process where the output exhibits unexpected critical dependence on the relative timing of events) with proper atomics.

For example, after the SPU 104 processes the last task in WQ 118 it may check the state of WQ 118. The PPU 102 may add work to the WQ 118 and set its state to SPM_READY before the Policy module calls spmm_release_work (new_state). If the Policy Module 124 subsequently calls spmm_release_work(SPM_EMPTY), the state of WQ 118 will be incorrect when the policy module subsequently calls spmm_exit( ).

A preferred technique to prevent such invalid WQ states proceeds as follows. After the SPU 104 processes the last task in WQ 118 the Policy Module 124 locks an atomic mutex for the WQ 118 and then checks for more tasks in the WQ 118. If there are no more tasks, the Policy Module 124 calls spmm_release_work(SPM_EMPTY) and the state of the WQ 118 is set to SPM_EMPTY. The policy module 124 then unlocks the atomic mutex for the WQ 118. If the PPU 102 wants to add work to the WQ 118, the PPU 102 locks the atomic mutex for the WQ 118, adds the work, sets the state of the WQ 118 to SPM_READY and unlocks the atomic mutex for the WQ 118. Even if the work is added before the Policy Module 124 can call spmm_exit( ), the state of the WQ 118 will be correct.

It should be noted that even if the WQ 118 is never reused (state is set to SPM_FREE by PMs upon completion of tasks), there is still a potential race condition without atomics. Specifically, suppose a policy module running on a first SPU processes the last task in the WQ 118, checks for more tasks in the WQ 118 and determines that there are none. The SPU then signals the PPU 102 that the WQ 118 is complete. After the PPU 102 has received the signal it frees or reuses the memory space allotted for the WQ 118. Either way the memory space allotted for the WQ 118 may contain garbage data. If, before the policy module on the first SPU can call spmm_release_work(SPM_FREE), a second SPU under the control of the SPMM 112 then chooses the WQ 118 the second SPU may crash when it attempts to process the garbage data from the memory space allotted for WQ 118.

In avoiding this race condition with atomics it is important that the first SPU not signal the PPU that the WQ 118 is complete before calling spmm_release_work(SPM_FREE). To address the possibility that the second SPU may choose the WQ 118 after the mutex is locked but before calling spmm_release_work, the policy module on the first SPU can check the contention of the WQ 118. If a second SPU has chosen the WQ 118 and loaded its policy module, the contention will not be equal to zero (which would be expected for completed work). Instead of signaling the PPU that the work is complete, the first SPU unlocks the mutex and calls spmm_exit. The policy module running on the second SPU checks for more work on the WQ 118 and, upon finding none, calls spmm_release_work(SPM_FREE), sets the contention of the WQ 118 equal to zero, signals the PPU 102 that the WQ 118 is complete and unlocks the mutex.

Although the above discussion addresses atomic mutex locking to avoid race condition it may also be possible to avoid such conditions in a lock-free manner. In general, once the policy module determines that a given WQ contains no more tasks the policy module needs to prevent task states from being changed while the WQ state is set to empty. Alternatively, the processes of adding work or finishing work must be atomic. In the context of embodiments of the present invention, adding work includes setting the task state to “ready” in the policy module space and setting the SPMM WQ state to “ready.” Finishing work refers to a condition in which the last task is either taken or set to a not_ready state. Finishing work includes updating the task state to not ready and setting the SPMM WQ state to “not ready”.

The SPMM 112 may enable scheduling of multiple work Queues with different priorities. Higher priority queues can be processed before lower. When processing queues of equal priority, SPUs can balance contention. If the highest priority queue does not allow any more contention, other SPUs will work on the next highest priorities. Examples of pre-emption by the SPMM 112 can be understood by again referring to FIG. 2B. The policy module processing the WQ 118 on the SPU 104 continues to analyze the other WQ's (represented by pointer W) in the Work Queue array 114. At this point, the steps of the algorithm 220 may be implemented as part of the policy module running the process on the SPU 104. Recall that at step 234 the SPMM checked whether the value of CHOICE (which indicates the WQ 118 currently being processed by the SPU 104) is valid. If at step 238 the value of CHOICE is still valid the SPMM compares the priority of the chosen WQ to the priority of W. If W's priority is higher, this represents a pre-emption event and control of the SPU 104 returns to the SPMM 112. The value of CHOICE is set to the value of W (which represents a different work queue) at step 236 and the algorithm 220 returns to step 230 to increment the pointer W.

Pre-emption may also occur under certain circumstances when W and CHOICE are of equal priority at step 240. For example, if at step 242 the policy module 124 finds that W and CHOICE are of equal priority and W's contention is greater than zero but less than a minimum contention value (min_contention) control of the SPU may be returned to the SPMM 112 at step 236. In such a case W is said to be “urgent”. The concept of minimum contention is useful in situations where work cascades from one SPU to one or more other SPUs. For example, in many physics applications, such as cloth simulation, the output of one SPU serves as input for another SPU running a different part of a process implementing a given work queue. When such a work queue is of equal priority to other work being processed, the algorithm 220 attempts to balance the contention by making SPUs available for such a process. If enough SPUs are available to process the work, the output may be loaded directly into the next SPU. Alternatively, the output may be temporarily stored in the main memory 106 until additional SPUs become available to process the output.

If at step 242 it is determined that W is not “urgent” the policy module can check at step 244 whether CHOICE represents urgent work, e.g., by determining whether CHOICE's contention is greater than zero but less than its min_contention. If CHOICE is urgent the policy module 124 continues to check other work, e.g., by returning the algorithm to step 230. If CHOICE is not urgent, the policy module 124 can balance contention by checking whether W's contention is less than CHOICE's contention at step 246 and, if so, setting CHOICE equal to W at step 236 and returning control to the SPMM 112. If W's contention is not less than CHOICE's contention the policy module 124 can check whether W and CHOICE are of equal contention at step 248. If not, the policy module 124 continues to check other work, e.g., by returning the algorithm to step 230. If W and CHOICE are of equal contention, the policy module 124 may check, at step 250 whether there is affinity, i.e., if W's policy is already loaded into SPU 104. If there is affinity, the policy module may set CHOICE equal to W at step 236 and return control of the SPU 104 to the SPMM 112.

In embodiments of the present invention the SPMM 112 may be optimized for interoperability. Examples of such interoperability are depicted diagrammatically in FIGS. 3A-3F. For example, the SPMM 112 may be implemented as a particularly advantageous type of normal SPU thread as depicted in FIG. 3A. As such, a processing system that implements SPMM can interoperate with SPU threads or vice versa. In such an embodiment, SPU Threads can be useful to accommodate rare high priority preemptions.

Furthermore, as depicted in FIG. 3B, SPURS may be implemented as one possible policy module within the context of SPMM. Thus, SPURS can operate on certain tasks where SPMM can replace SPURS code with something else for work on other tasks. SPMM can schedule multiple SPURS tasksets next to other SPU task systems, obeying priorities. Furthermore, it is possible for SPU Threads to implement both SPURS and SPMM as different possible SPU Threads. As such, embodiments of the present invention can be fully interoperable with both SPURS and SPU threads. The feature of scheduling across various programming models is important. This feature is especially useful for the Cell processor and other parallel processor devices with similar features.

FIGS. 3C-3D depict memory maps for local storage 300 on an SPU implementing different programming models. FIG. 3C depicts a memory map for local storage 310 of an SPU implementing SPMM. Here the SPMM kernel 312 loads a policy 314 and after that, SPU operation is managed by the policy until completion of work or a preempting event occurs. The policy 314 may be a custom policy, i.e., one that is specifically designed for a particular application or class of operations. Developers can create such custom polices to suit particular applications. FIG. 3D depicts a memory map for a local storage 320 in which SPURS 322 is implemented as a policy under SPMM 312. The SPURS policy 322 manages a SPURS taskset 324. SPURS can be modified to run on SPMM with same program start address for SPURS tasks. When running under SPMM 312, the SPURS policy 322 does not need to manage multiple tasksets.

The advantage of SPMM is that SPURS and other policies can be easily switched between as the nature of the work requires. For example, FIG. 3E depicts a memory map for a local storage 320 in which SPU Task Manager (STM) 322 is implemented as a policy under SPMM 312. The STM policy 332 manages a STM taskset having a task code 334 and one or more sets of task data 336, 338 The STM policy 332 reads one or more task definitions stored in the main memory into the local storage 320. Based on information contained in the task definitions the SPU loads code and/or data related to the task definitions from the main memory into the local memory associated with the selected SPU. The selected SPU then performs one or more tasks using the code and/or data. STM can be modified to run on SPMM with same program start address for STM tasks. When running under SPMM 312, the STM policy 332 does not need to manage multiple tasksets. STM is described in detail in commonly-assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/238,087 entitled “SPU TASK MANAGER FOR CELL PROCESSOR” to John P. Bates, Payton R. White, Richard Stenson, Howard Berkey, Attila Vass and Mark Cerny, which is filed the same day as the present application, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Another possible policy that may be loaded under SPMM is known as Cell Processor Task and Data Management (CTDM). FIG. 3F depicts a memory map for a local storage 320 in which a CTDM 342 is implemented as a policy under SPMM 312. The CTDM policy 342 allows the SPU to break up sets of data that are too large to fit in the local storage 320 into smaller segments 344 than can be processed by code 346 running on the SPU. The data can also be divided up into groups of a size suitable for processing on a subsequent processor such as a graphics card. CTDM is described in detail in commonly-assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/238,095 entitled “CELL PROCESSOR TASK AND DATA MANAGEMENT” to Richard B. Stenson and John P. Bates, which is filed the same day as the present application, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Embodiments of the present invention are the result of a broad understanding of existing SPU programming models. It is often the case that one model is never perfect for all applications. Consequently, engineers tend to develop custom programming models. Interoperability is not a problem when all the SPU code is written by the same company. However, interoperability can be a problem when middleware is needed that SPU code must interoperate efficiently.

Parallel processor units of the type depicted in FIG. 1 operating as described above may be implemented as part of a larger processing system 400, as depicted in FIG. 4. The system 400 may include a cell processor module 401 and a memory 402 (e.g., RAM, DRAM, ROM, and the like). In addition, the processing system 400 may have multiple cell processor modules 401. The cell processor module 401 generally includes one or more main processors PPU and one or more SPUs SPU₁, SPU₂ . . . SPU_(N) which may be configured to operate under the control of an SPMM as described above. The processor module 401 may also include a memory flow controller MFC. The cell processor module 401 may be a cell processor, e.g., of the type depicted in FIG. 1. The memory 402 includes data and code configured as described above. Specifically, the memory includes a work queue array 404, work queues 406 and policy modules 408 each of which may include code, data or some combination of both code and data as described above.

The system 400 may also include well-known support functions 410, such as input/output (I/O) elements 411, power supplies (P/S) 412, a clock (CLK) 413 and cache 414. The system 400 may optionally include a mass storage device 415 such as a disk drive, CD-ROM drive, tape drive, or the like to store programs and/or data. The controller may also optionally include a display unit 416 and user interface unit 418 to facilitate interaction between the controller 400 and a user. The display unit 416 may be in the form of a cathode ray tube (CRT) or flat panel screen that displays text, numerals, graphical symbols or images. The user interface 418 may include a keyboard, mouse, joystick, light pen or other device. The cell processor module 401, memory 402 and other components of the system 400 may exchange signals (e.g., code instructions and data) with each other via a system bus 420 as shown in FIG. 4.

As used herein, the term I/O generally refers to any program, operation or device that transfers data to or from the system 400 and to or from a peripheral device. Every transfer is an output from one device and an input into another. Peripheral devices include input-only devices, such as keyboards and mouses, output-only devices, such as printers as well as devices such as a writable CD-ROM that can act as both an input and an output device. The term “peripheral device” includes external devices, such as a mouse, keyboard, printer, monitor, external Zip drive or scanner as well as internal devices, such as a CD-ROM drive, CD-R drive or internal modem or other peripheral such as a flash memory reader/writer, hard drive.

The processor module 401 may manage the performance of tasks in the work queues 406 in response to data and program code instructions of a main program 403 stored and retrieved by the memory 402 and executed by the processor module 401. Code portions of the program 403 may conform to any one of a number of different programming languages such as Assembly, C++, JAVA or a number of other languages. The processor module 401 forms a general-purpose computer that becomes a specific purpose computer when executing programs such as the program code 403. Although the program code 403 is described herein as being implemented in software and executed upon a general purpose computer, those skilled in the art will realize that the method of task management could alternatively be implemented using hardware such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or other hardware circuitry. As such, it should be understood that embodiments of the invention can be implemented, in whole or in part, in software, hardware or some combination of both. In one embodiment, among others, the program code 403 may include a set of processor readable instructions that implement a method having features in common with the method 200 of FIG. 2A and/or the algorithm 220 of FIG. 2B.

Although the above discussion addresses cell processors, embodiments of the present invention may be implemented using any multi-processor scheme. Specifically, embodiments of the invention may be implemented in various configurations of parallel processors. For example, the invention herein may be implemented in a configuration with multiple SPU-like processors, but no PPU-like processor. The embodiments may be implemented in a parallel processor environment having one or more main processors and more or fewer than eight SPUs (or similar processors with local memories). Embodiments of the present invention provide a high-performance SPU management solution that is SPU-driven with low usage of SPU local storage space. As described above, embodiments of the present invention enable parallel SPU processing of work on multiple SPUs. Furthermore, the modular nature of the SPMM model is desirable in that it allows various programming models and task systems to interoperate.

While the above is a complete description of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to use various alternatives, modifications and equivalents. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should be determined not with reference to the above description but should, instead, be determined with reference to the appended claims, along with their full scope of equivalents. Any feature described herein, whether preferred or not, may be combined with any other feature described herein, whether preferred or not. In the claims that follow, the indefinite article “A”, or “An” refers to a quantity of one or more of the item following the article, except where expressly stated otherwise. The appended claims are not to be interpreted as including means-plus-function limitations, unless such a limitation is explicitly recited in a given claim using the phrase “means for.” 

What is claimed is:
 1. In a processor having one or more central processors and one or more secondary processing elements, each secondary processing element having a processor unit and a local memory, a method for managing code and data on one or more of the secondary processing elements, the method comprising: under control of a policy module manager located at and running on a selected one of the one or more secondary processing elements, selecting a work queue for processing by determining a contention for a work queue in a main memory, wherein the contention is a number of secondary processing elements working on the work queue, comparing the contention to a predetermined minimum contention for the work queue, wherein the minimum contention represents a minimum number of secondary processing elements needed to process the work queue, and preferentially loading a policy module from the main memory into the local memory of the selected secondary processing element if the contention for the work queue is greater than zero but less than the minimum contention; under control of the policy module, loading one or more tasks from the work queue in the main memory into the local memory of the selected secondary processing element; performing the one or more tasks with the selected secondary processing element; and after completing the one or more tasks or upon a pre-emption, returning control of the selected secondary processing element to the policy module manager.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein loading a policy module from the main memory includes reading a memory address of the policy module in the main memory from a work definition in a work queue array.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein loading the one or more tasks from the main memory includes reading a memory address of the task in the main memory from a work definition in a work queue array.
 4. The method of claim 3 wherein the memory address of the task contains both code and data.
 5. The method of claim 3 wherein the policy module determines a contents and usage of the work queue.
 6. The method of claim 1 wherein performing the one or more tasks includes the step of, under control of the policy module, saving an output of the task to either the main memory or the local memory of another secondary processing element.
 7. The method of claim 1 wherein performing the one or more tasks with the selected secondary processing element includes checking for pre-emption events with the policy module.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising choosing one or more new tasks upon completion or pre-emption of the one or more tasks.
 9. The method of claim 8 wherein choosing the one or more new tasks includes a linear search.
 10. The method of claim 1 wherein pre-emption of the one or more tasks includes the step of determining whether a task with a higher priority has become available for processing by the secondary processing element.
 11. The method of claim 10, further comprising loading the task with the higher priority and an associated policy module into the secondary processing element.
 12. The method of claim 1 wherein returning control of the selected secondary processing element to the policy module manager includes avoiding a race condition in which the central processor or another secondary processing element chooses a task before the policy module running on the selected secondary processing element changes a state for the task.
 13. A processor, comprising: a main memory; a central processor coupled to the main memory; one or more secondary processing elements coupled to the main memory and central processor, wherein each secondary processing element includes a processor unit and a local memory, a policy module manager located at and running on a particular secondary processing element of the one or more of the secondary processing elements, the policy module manager being configured to select a work queue in the main memory for processing and load a policy module for the selected work queue from the main memory into the local memory of the particular secondary processing element, wherein the policy module manager is configured to select a work queue for processing by determining a contention for a work queue in a main memory, wherein the contention is a number of secondary processing elements working on the work queue, comparing the contention to a predetermined minimum contention for the work queue, wherein the minimum contention represents a minimum number of secondary processing elements needed to process the work queue, and load the policy module for the work queue if the contention for the work queue is greater than zero but less than the minimum contention, wherein the policy module is configured to load one or more tasks from a work queue from the main memory into the local memory of the particular secondary processing element and wherein the policy module is configured to interpret and process the one or more tasks from the work queue on the particular secondary processing element.
 14. The processor of claim 13 wherein the main memory includes one more work queue arrays, wherein each work queue includes one or more work definitions, each work definition being associated with a work queue.
 15. The processor of claim 14 wherein each work definition includes a memory address of a work queue and a memory address of a policy definition.
 16. The processor of claim 15 wherein each work definition includes a Priority value.
 17. The processor of claim 15 wherein each work definition includes a Contention value.
 18. The processor of claim 15 wherein each work definition includes Maximum Allowed Contention value.
 19. The processor of claim 15 wherein each work definition includes a Minimum Contention value.
 20. The processor of claim 15 wherein each work definition includes a State value.
 21. The processor of claim 15 wherein the policy definition includes an address of a Policy Module code image.
 22. The processor of claim 15 wherein the memory address of the work queue includes both code and data.
 23. The processor of claim 13 wherein the policy module is a custom policy.
 24. The processor of claim 13 wherein the policy is a Runtime System policy.
 25. The processor of claim 13 wherein the policy is a Task Management policy.
 26. The processor of claim 13 wherein the policy is a Task and Data Management policy.
 27. The processor of claim 13 wherein the policy module manager and/or Policy Module is configured to avoid a race condition in which the central processor or another secondary processing element chooses a task before the policy module running on the selected secondary processing element changes a state for the task.
 28. A data processing system, comprising: one or more processors each processor having a main memory, a central processor, and one or more secondary processing elements, each secondary processing element having a processor unit and a local memory, wherein the main memory, central processor, and secondary processing elements are coupled to each other by a data bus; wherein the main memory and/or local memory include processor executable instructions for implementing a method for managing code and data on one or more of the secondary processing elements, the method comprising: under control of a policy module manager located at and running on a selected secondary processing element of the one or more of the secondary processing elements, selecting a work queue for processing by determining a contention for a work queue in a main memory, wherein the contention is a number of secondary processing elements working on the work queue, comparing the contention to a predetermined minimum contention for the work queue, wherein the minimum contention represents a minimum number of secondary processing elements needed to process the work queue, and loading a policy module from the main memory into the local memory of the selected secondary processing element if the contention for the work queue is greater than zero but less than the minimum contention; under control of the policy module, loading one or more tasks from the work queue in the main memory into the local memory of the selected secondary processing element; performing the one or more tasks with the selected secondary processing element; and after completing the one or more tasks or upon a pre-emption, returning control of the secondary processing element to the policy module manager.
 29. A non-transitory processor readable medium having embodied therein a set of processor readable instructions for implementing a method for managing code and data on one or more secondary processing elements in a processor having one or more central processor units and one or more secondary processing elements, each secondary processing element having a processor unit and a local memory, the method comprising: under control of a policy module manager located at and running on a selected secondary processing element of the one or more of the secondary processing elements, selecting a work queue for processing by determining a contention for a work queue in a main memory, wherein the contention is a number of secondary processing elements working on the work queue, comparing the contention to a predetermined minimum contention for the work queue, wherein the minimum contention represents a minimum number of secondary processing elements needed to process the work queue, and loading a policy module from the main memory into the local memory of the selected secondary processing element if the contention for the work queue is less than the minimum contention; under control of the policy module, loading one or more tasks from the main memory into the local memory of the selected secondary processing element; performing the one or more tasks with the selected secondary processing element; and after completing the one or more tasks or upon a pre-emption, returning control of the secondary processing element to the policy module manager. 